Borough breakdown of cold, damp and mouldy homes in London

Caroline Russell: There are more than 146,000 cold, damp and mouldy homes in our city. Can you provide a borough by borough breakdown of London’s cold, damp and mouldy homes?

The Mayor: The 146,000 figure is taken from an analysis of 2017 English Housing Survey data at London-wide level. The sample size of the English Housing Survey is not large enough to provide a borough by borough breakdown of this figure. For this reason, the data requested is not available.

London’s housing crisis

Siân Berry: Have you left London’s housing situation in a better state than when you first took office in 2016?

The Mayor: When I first took office, I saw the terrible state of housing in London which my predecessor had left; zero social rent homes, a dodgy definition of affordable and council homes being lost to estate regeneration.
Since I’ve had the privilege of the best job in the world, housing has been one of my top priorities. In 2018/19 alone I started 14,544 affordable homes, more than in any year since City Hall has had control of housing investment. My Building Council Homes for Londoners programme has helped get 1,916 new council homes underway, more than in any year since 1985.
I also introduced the country’s first funding rules requiring resident ballots on estate regeneration plans, created a Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, and more than doubled City Hall’s funding to help London’s rough sleepers. I’ve done everything in my power to tackle London’s housing crisis and support Londoners.

Non-ACM cladding data collection

Andrew Dismore: Further to your answer to Question No: 2020/0579, ‘ When do you expect MHCLG to publish information on buildings with forms of unsafe cladding other than ACM?’
Your answer being:
The Government has set a deadline of March 2020 for local authorities to return data on the external walls of all high-rise buildings. I am not aware of any plans of the Government’s to publish this information.
will you lobby the Government to publish this data so residents will know what hazards they face?

The Mayor: I agree that the Government should urgently publish details of which external wall systems have failed testing. This is long overdue and the lack of action is putting residents at risk. However, as with buildings with unsafe aluminium composite materials cladding, I do not support publishing a list of affected blocks given the increased safety risk this would pose to residents.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations for building owners (1)

Andrew Dismore: How many buildings have implemented the steps, insofar as possible within the current legal and regulatory framework, recommended in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry?

The Mayor: The GLA does not monitor compliance so does not hold this data. However, given the urgency and importance of this issue, on Thursday 5 March 2020 I wrote directly to over 500 building owners and managers across London to draw their attention to the recommendations and urge them to take the necessary steps to offer the highest standards of fire safety. The letter is available at:https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/letter_and_recommendations_from_the_mayor_of_london.pdf.

Housing

Andrew Boff: Are you meeting your housing commitments to Londoners?

The Mayor: Yes. Having nearly completed my first term in office, I am proud of my record of fulfilling my housing commitments to Londoners. Tackling the housing crisis is my top priority and I have done everything I can - from delivering more genuinely affordable homes, to standing up for private renters and doubling funding for rough sleeping services.
For two years in a row I have delivered a record number of genuinely affordable homes since housing investment powers were devolved to City Hall, hitting the targets that were agreed with the Government. The latest data for this year show that we are on course for another record-breaking year. As someone who grew up in a council home I’m particularly proud that in 2018/19 we started more new council homes than in any year since 1984/85.
Whilst I have used all the resources and powers at my disposal to tackle the housing crisis head-on, at the heart of this crisis is a lack of funding for affordable housing. It is now time for Government to step up to the plate and work with me to build the council and social rented homes we urgently need and provide the support that is needed to vulnerable Londoners.

Short term lettings

Unmesh Desai: Following the GLA’s excellent “Short-term and holiday letting in London” report, how will you work with boroughs to better monitor the impact of short-term lettings in London, and what progress is being made with Government towards a statutory regulatory system?

The Mayor: My team has been working closely with London boroughs to understand the barriers to monitoring the prevalence and impact of short-term letting activity in the capital. The research you refer to makes clear that a key challenge for local authorities is a lack of available data on how many nights individual properties are let out for during any calendar year, and this is compounded by a lack of resource to carry out effective enforcement against those who contravene the law.
London Councils and Airbnb have joined me in calling on Government to introduce a mandatory registration system for short-term lettings in London which would give councils the information they need to properly monitor and enforce against activity of this kind. I continue to push the Government on this point, but disappointingly they still support self-regulation by the industry, despite the clear evidence that the current approach is not working.

Building Council Homes for Londoners

Unmesh Desai: Other than capital funding for grant, what support has the GLA provided to councils to increase the number of homes they are building. For example, how many (if any) GLA staff have been placed with councils, and has revenue funding been provided in any cases?

The Mayor: In addition to over £1 billion of capital funding I have allocated to councils through my Building Council Homes for Londoners programme (BCHfL), I have also provided over £10 million of revenue funding to local authorities to develop internal skills and capacity within their housing and planning teams through the Homebuilding Capacity Fund. Through BCHfL I have also provided £75,000 to fund Future of London to establish and run the Council-led Housing Forum, a dedicated forum for councils to share learning about building council homes. Since BCHfL was launched, three GLA staff members have been temporarily placed in councils to support housing delivery.
I have also provided funding to establish Public Practice, a social enterprise that brokers time-limited placements within local authorities for planning and place-making practitioners that are working in the private sector.

Affordable housing programme (5)

Unmesh Desai: When you provide the next quarterly update to the GLA affordable housing statistics in May, and from then on, could you provide within or alongside those statistics a breakdown of provider, in particular so that we can monitor the number of new council homes being supported and the effectiveness of the Council Homes for Londoners programme?

The Mayor: The GLA Published statistics provide and will continue to provide information on housing delivery at a programme level, including for the Building Council Homes for Londoners programme.

Affordable housing programme (4)

Unmesh Desai: How do you monitor the proportion of housing starts that are affordable for Approved Providers in London? Could you provide a list of Approved Providers and the proportion of the homes they have started in London since April 2015 that are affordable?

The Mayor: The GLA does not hold information on the overall number of affordable and open market homes developed or owned by housing providers in London. Each year, housing providers with AH16-21 programme agreements are required to confirm to the GLA that their development programme is on track to deliver at least 50 per centaffordable housing in line with the requirements for the funding allocation.

Precision Manufactured Homes

Nicky Gavron: What proportion of successful bids to the GLA for affordable housing funding involve an element of precision-manufactured homes?

The Mayor: The GLA’s Open Project System (OPS), which is used to administer the Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), does not currently track information about the number of schemes that have adopted precision manufactured homebuilding (PMH) methods. Officers are currently considering how a new tracking or monitoring regime could be implemented to serve this function in the future.
The Innovation Fund, which forms part of the broader AHP, provides funding for innovative ways of delivering more affordable homes in London – including through the adoption of PMH methods. To date, the Innovation Fund has provided funding to three schemes that utilise PMH methods: Pocket Living, Apex Airspace and the Pan-London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise (PLACE).

PRISM app

Nicky Gavron: Since its launch last summer, could you provide an update on how you have worked with housebuilders to roll-out the PRISM app and could you provide any examples of where it is being used by GLA partners, and will it feature in the housing design guidance being published later this year?

The Mayor: Since its launch in June 2019, officers have commissioned Bryden Wood Technology and Cast Consultancy to undertake further enhancements to the Prism design app. This further work includes new design features and typologies, the inclusion of additional precision manufactured housing (PMH) systems and an improved user interface, as well as targeted engagement with GLA partners to consider how the app could be used to support greater uptake of PMH on new schemes. The updated version of Prism is expected to be released later this year.
In addition, the app enhancements ensure that the app is better aligned with requirements outlined in the draft Design Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG), with notifications provided to users when certain design and planning standards are breached. The SPG does not include specific PMH design standards, as all housing schemes are expected to meet the same design requirements regardless of the construction method used.

Numbers of state aid forms for cladding remediation

Andrew Dismore: What is the a) modal average, b) highest and c) lowest number of state aid forms that have needed to be collected to progress remediation in private high-rise residential buildings accessing the GLA-administered fund?

The Mayor: State Aid declarations are only considered once a building owner submits a full application to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund. As of 10 March 2020, one building had reached this status. The building collected State Aid declarations from all units within the building.

GLA Funded Family Homes

Nicky Gavron: Following your response to my question 2020/0599, will you ensure that information related to the bedroom breakdown of homes becomes mandatory as part of GLA funded programmes, so that delivery can be effectively monitored and scrutinised by the Assembly, and so that the Mayor’s funding matches the need identified in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment and other evidence? The Affordable Homes Programmes funding guidance states that “Providers are expected to build homes that match local and pan-London needs, in terms of size and typology” so it is important that this is monitored.

The Mayor: Housing providers with funding agreements for affordable housing with the GLA are required to confirm the bedroom breakdown for homes when projects reach closure stage in the GLA systems. Project closure can take place at any point after the project has completed and reported via GLA statistics. The details provided on the GLA website and in response to Mayor's Question 2020/0599 relate to starts on site which reflect delivery towards the Mayor’s overall housing target for this settlement period.

Housing moves (1)

Unmesh Desai: How many new London Affordable Rent homes have been a) made available through the Housing Moves scheme and b) let through the Housing Moves scheme?

The Mayor: The overwhelming majority of homes advertised and let through Housing Moves have been at social rents (which should include London Affordable Rent). London Affordable Rent is not monitored separately.

Private rented sector

Unmesh Desai: Could you summarise what the focus of the London Borough Private Rented Sector Partnership has been since its establishment and how it has improved the Private Rented Sector for Londoners?

The Mayor: My Private Rented Sector (PRS) Partnership brings together PRS leads from the 33 London boroughs to share intelligence and best practice, and develop initiatives to improve standards and conditions for private renters. It has been instrumental to the delivery and continued success of my Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, which empowers renters to check and report their landlord or letting agent, and supports boroughenforcement.
The Partnership provides a forum to promote priorities that help improve conditions for renters, such as property licensing, use of civil penalties, and fire safety, as well as encouraging partnership working with bodies such as Trading Standards, the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade. The Partnership is currently supporting the development of my Better Renting programme, which will create additional capacity in London boroughs to tackle poor property standards and includes a strong focus on improving support and advice to tenants experiencing difficulties.

Seaside and Country Homes

Caroline Pidgeon: What proportion of applications for a new property that were made through the Seaside and Country Homes scheme were successful in each year since 2013/2014?

The Mayor: Please see the table below:
Number of new applications
Number of lettings
Lettings as a percentage of applications
2013/14
643
155
24%
2014/15
525
147
28%
2015/16
485
126
26%
2016/17
579
110
19%
2017/18
591
105
18%
2018/19
687
142
21%
2019/20 (to 10th March 2020)
647
169
26%
Please note - applicants who are let a property will not necessarily have applied to the scheme in the same year in which they are housed.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations for building owners (2)

Andrew Dismore: What steps are the London Fire Brigade and the GLA taking to get building managers to implement the reforms in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry ahead of new legislation?

The Mayor: On Thursday 5 March 2020, I wrote to over 500 building owners and managers to draw their attention to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations and urge them to take the necessary steps to offer the highest standards of fire safety. Recipients included councils, housing associations, developers, private building owners on GLA estate, applicants to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund and some managing agent trade bodies.
The letter and appended recommendations are available at:https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/letter_and_recommendations_from_the_mayor_of_london.pdf.

Right to Buy Ring-Fence Offer (2)

Unmesh Desai: Do you, or will you, monitor the use of funding used by local authorities through the Right to Buy Ring-Fence Offer to monitor the number of new affordable homes started and completed through this funding?

The Mayor: Yes, we will monitor the use of funding and tracking the number of new affordable home starts and completions that utilise this funding.

Right to Buy Ring-Fence Offer (1)

Unmesh Desai: How many local authorities have signed up to your Right to Buy receipts ring-fence offer and how much funding has been a) allocated to each borough and b) drawn down by each borough?

The Mayor: The Right to Buy ring-fence was designed to give local authorities more time to allocate and spend their Right to Buy receipts. To date, 20 local authorities have opted in to the Right to Buy ring-fence offer.As yet, no funding has been allocated to specific projects and none has been drawn down by the boroughs.

GLA Funded Family Homes (2)

Nicky Gavron: Following your response to my question 2020/0599, you provided a spreadsheet with the project breakdown of homes for Q3 in 2019/20. Can you provide equivalent spreadsheets for all previous quarters were this information is available, and share them through the GLA website, rather than just provide a single spreadsheet which only includes the most recent quarter?

The Mayor: As part of the Mayor’s commitment to achieve full compliance with the ONS Code of Practice on Use of Statistics, the GLA may apply revisions to the published statistics to ensure accuracy. Revisions will be confirmed in the GLA published statistics on an annual basis and will be applied from 2015-16. For this reason, the scheme list with information on the bedroom breakdown is provided for the current quarter because it is provisional and subject to change.

Second home landlords (2)

Shaun Bailey: Are you aware of any evidence that landlords with second homes have a negative impact on your ability to address London's housing crisis? If so, what is it?

The Mayor: As set out in my response to Mayor's Question 2020/1116 my team has commissioned the University of Liverpool to conduct research into empty and under-utilised homes, including second homes. The research is considering definitions of empty and under-utilised homes, as well as potential data sources which could be used to better understand prevalence of these homes across London. The research will allow the GLA to develop a more detailed understanding of the issue which will better enable us to understand any potential impact on London’s housing market. The research will report later this year.

Second home landlords (1)

Shaun Bailey: Have you conducted, or do you intend to conduct, any research on the impact on London's housing market of landlords with second homes?

The Mayor: My team has commissioned the University of Liverpool to conduct research into empty and under-utilised homes, including second homes, as in order to understand their impact it is necessary to understand the scale of the issue. The research is considering definitions of empty and under-utilised homes, as well as potential data sources which could be used to better understand prevalence of these homes across London. The research will report later this year.

Winter Programme Fund for rough sleepers

Unmesh Desai: When will the Mayor report on the delivery outcomes from his 2019/20 Winter Programme Fund for rough sleepers?

The Mayor: My Winter Programme launched this winter, with the aim of ramping up vital services for people sleeping rough during the coldest months. Working together with London boroughs and charities, so far 484 people have already been supported by these extra services. I have been publishing weekly updates on the GLA website on the numbers of people helped since the Programme began, and will continue to provide these weekly figures to the public until the end of the Programme (31 March 2020). They can be found at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/homelessness/mayors-rough-sleeping-services.

Housing moves (2)

Unmesh Desai: How many lettings have been made through the Housing Moves scheme in each of the past 5 years?

The Mayor: There were 246 lets in 2015/16, 169 in 2016/17, 124 in 2017/18, 84 in 2018/19 and so far in 2019/20 (to 10 March) there have been 170.

Housing moves (3)

Unmesh Desai: Do you have a breakdown of lettings made through the Housing Moves scheme by tenure moved from and tenure moved to?

The Mayor: The Housing Moves scheme operates solely within the social sector.

Leasehold ground rents

Unmesh Desai: Following the Competition and Markets Authority’s report into the miss-selling of leasehold properties, which finds that there is no legal or commercial justification for ground rents, will you commit to ensuring that no new leasehold properties – be they shared ownership or private sale – that receive grant or loan funding from the GLA, or are part of projects that do, have ground rents above £0?

The Mayor: I am committed to ensuring that leaseholders in London get a fairer deal, including through the banning of leasehold houses and reducing ground rents to zero. I urge the Government to move swiftly to implement these legislative changes, but in the meantime I have asked my team to look at how to ensure the GLA and our partners are demonstrating best practice in this area.

Cladding remediation funds March update

Andrew Dismore: Please state how much money has been a) allocated and b) disbursed and to how many buildings for the GLA-administered social and private sector ACM cladding remediation funds.

The Mayor: The GLA administers the Social and Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediations Funds (SSCRF and PSCRF) on behalf of the Government. The Government has allocated £1,119,247 of funding from the PSCRF, £49,496 of which has been disbursed. The Government has allocated £208,440,037 of funding from SSCRF, £90,278,997 of which has been disbursed.
These figures are accurate as of 10 March 2020.

Dangerous Cladding

Andrew Dismore: It is becoming increasingly clear that the Government remedial fund, limited solely to ACM cladding on tall buildings is too restrictive and inadequate in quantum. Other types of cladding are often equally dangerous but are excluded; and residents are facing huge bills for ‘waking watch’ and other fire prevention works. Will you lobby the Government to extend and improve the scheme in London to allow other high fire risk buildings to be included?

The Mayor: I have long called for the existing cladding remediation funds to be extended. While it is welcome that the Government announced in the Budget an additional £1 billion for building safety, this is simply not sufficient. This funding only applies to buildings over 18m and I am concerned that most local authorities and housing associations will be ineligible for this funding on the basis that that they did the right thing by committing early on to protect leaseholders from costs.

Lark Court fire safety certification (1)

Andrew Dismore: Notting Hill Genesis have failed to ensure an intrusive fire safety inspection has been carried out, resulting in my constituents being unable to remortgage, sell, or move. Do you agree that building management companies should address fire safety certification as a matter of urgency?

The Mayor: I agree that building management companies should do everything they can to respond to requests for fire safety certification. I am, however, also aware that delays can occur for reasons beyond social landlords’ immediate control, including the lack of qualified experts available to carry out these inspections.
Given the scale of this national crisis, I have long called for the Government to take this seriously by providing a clear basis for prioritisation of buildings and addressing the competence and capacity issues in the supply chain.

Lark Court fire safety certification (2)

Andrew Dismore: What more can you do to encourage building owners, like Notting Hill Genesis, to prioritise getting fire safety certificates for their buildings so that residents are not trapped in homes of unassessed safety?

The Mayor: On Thursday 5 March, I wrote to over 500 building owners and managers across London setting out recommendations on building safety, informed by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report and other best practice. The letter is available at https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/letter_and_recommendations_from_the_mayor_of_london.pdf.
However, I recognise the challenges faced by social sector landlords to carry out inspections and remediation works, and I will continue to urge the Government to support the sector adequately.

Affordable housing programme (7)

Unmesh Desai: What proportion of new homes supported by the GLA are wheelchair user dwellings (per Building Regulation M4(3))?

The Mayor: GLA-funded schemes must comply with the London Plan requirement that at least 10 per cent of new build homes are ‘wheelchair user dwellings’ i.e. designed to be wheelchair accessible, or easily adaptable for residents who are wheelchair users, and all other new build homes to be ‘accessible and adaptable’. An estimated nine per cent of GLA-funded homes completed in 2018/19 were ‘wheelchair user dwellings’. This figure includes remodelled homes, which are not subject to the London Plan requirement.
Through my Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund, I am making at least £100m of capital funding available to deliver specialist homes for older and disabled Londoners. My Homes for Londoners team continue to work with registered providers and local authorities to develop more specialist homes.

Affordable housing programme (6)

Unmesh Desai: Could you provide an updated spreadsheet setting out all funding allocations made to date under your Affordable Housing Programme, both for organisations, and by borough, with the number of homes and amount allocated to each?

The Mayor: Please see Mayor's Question 2020/0069.This provides details of allocations by housing provider, and includes those boroughs with affordable housing funding agreements with the GLA.

Affordable housing programme (2)

Unmesh Desai: Could you set out what number of allocations made under your affordable housing programme have been through a) the Approved Provider Route b) Developer-led route and c) Negotiated Grant rates?

The Mayor: Under the Affordable Housing Programme, £569m has been allocated via the Approved Provider Route; £61m via the Developer-led route and £526m to projects via the Negotiated route. This is based on allocations where the processing route is specified. The information relates to allocations on 10th March 2020.

Affordable housing programme (3)

Unmesh Desai: In how many cases has the Developer-led route allowed grant to be applied to all affordable homes in a scheme after initial grant has lifted the proportion of affordable homes above the 40% threshold?

The Mayor: The Developer-led route can be accessed by housing providers who get their schemes to 40 per centaffordable housing (by habitable room) without grant. If they reach the 40 per centthreshold, they can access developer-led grant for all affordable housing in the scheme.

Dedicated Ward Officer hubs (2)

Navin Shah: How many Dedicated Ward Officer hubs have been provided in existing police buildings and how many have been provided at partner sites? For each site, please provide the name of the partner.

The Mayor: Partner sites are those defined as hubs located within property owned by other parts of the GLA and those hubs located in organisations who benefit from a police presence and provide rent free accommodation. Other hubs are located in either the retained MOPAC estate or by third parties on commercial terms.
As at 9 March 2020 there are 45 DWO hubs in the retained estate and 33 in third party accommodation on commercial terms. The review of the Estate Strategy means that this situation may change.

Dedicated Ward Officer hubs (1)

Navin Shah: How many Dedicated Ward Officer hubs have been rolled out to date? Please provide details of their locations.

The Mayor: As at 9 March 2020 there are seventy eight (78) DWO hub locations which have been established as set out below.
Our commitment is for the majority of DWOs starting and ending shifts within 20 mins of their wards.
As a result of the increase in officers announced by the Government a review of the Met’s Estate is currently taking place, meaning the building sales have been paused. As such, more DWOs are currently being housed in the retained estate than previously anticipated.
Locations